Casual Israeli Ibex

I did not expect there to be much wildlife in Israel. I don’t know why. Maybe it was because the desert brought to mind dry, desolate expanses or terrain devoid of life and filled with hostile living conditions (like Tatooine…filled with sand people). Yet my preconceptions and assumptions were again proven incorrect (I really need to stop having those in the first place). Contrary to the much less interesting, tick-infested deer of Fire Island, the Ibex of Israel can be found just as casually (not in big cities) and are just as willing to approach human visitors. Only these guys like to jump on things – like the hoods of cars.

Israeli Ibex

The species of ibex found in Israel is the Nubian ibex. Researchers estimate a wild population of only about 1,200 individuals, and they are labeled as “threatened” on the scale of “extinct” to “pretty, pretty, pretty good”. Hopefully, you’ll get the chance to see one of these guys strolling about the Holy Land, and if you’re really lucky, you’ll see an eagle take one of these guys out (that’s right, apparently, they are hunted by eagles – awesome).